No longer without a portable media player - Red Zune 8GB

Strange but true, I've never owned a portable media player, unless you consider my old Motorola Q as an iTune/Zune wannabe. Unfortunately, after many refurbs, I no longer have a Motorola Q, replaced with an HTC Vogue.

In a last ditch effort to use up some store credit before it expired on July 1st, I picked up a red 8GB Zune and immediately upgraded it to version 2.5 in my VMWare XP VM. The wireless aspect of the device and the FM tuner seem to be a nice touch. I fought with a coworker's Zune 30 back in the Zune 1.0 software era, so the overall software package has improved quite a bit since then.

My wife and kids have iPod Shuffles, which they enjoy a lot. As long as the parents keep an eye on the volume level of the Shuffles, I don't really see any reason kids shouldn't have these devices. The Shuffles are particularly resistant to abuse due to the lack of a LCD screen.

With that said, I'm not sure why the Zune has a bad reputation, because it seems to be a great little device. I know the original Zune 30 was mostly created from off the shelf components in a bit of a rush, but this 8GB device seems to be very polished and well thought out. I also like the fact that I don't have to go down a DRM-infested road and don't need to transcode most of my existing music collection. It also fits in the little utility pocket of my work bag perfectly.

I might even get adventurous and write a few XNA applications for it.